Sauce Espagnole (for 5 litres)

Ingredients

• 625 grammes roux
• 12 litres Fonds Brun (brown stock) in all: 8 litres to start
• 150 grammes belly bacon
• 250 grammes carrots
• 150 grammes onions
• 10 grammes thyme
• 3 small bay leaves
• 1 glass white wine
• 1 litre tomato purée

Instructions

1. Bring 8 litres of the brown stock to the boil, add the roux softened beforehand, mix with the spatula or whisk, and bring the sauce to the boil, stirring.
2. Hold it at the side of the fire at a slow, steady boil.
3. Make the Mirepoix: melt the bacon in a sauteuse, throw in the brunoise of carrot and onion with the thyme and bay leaves, and fry until the vegetables are lightly browned.
4. Drain off the fat and put the vegetables into the sauce.
5. Deglaze the sauteuse with the glass of white wine, reduce by half, and add the deglazing to the sauce.
6. Cook very gently for 3 hours, skimming the sauce very often.
7. Pass the sauce through the chinois into another pan, pressing the mirepoix lightly; moisten again with 2 litres of stock, and give it another 3 hours of slow, well-regulated boiling.
8. Pass into a terrine and work it with the spatula until completely cold.
9. The next day, return the sauce to a thick-bottomed pan with 2 litres of stock and the tomato purée (or the fresh tomatoes); if purée is used, pass it through the oven first until it has taken an almost brown tone.
10. Bring to the boil over full heat, stirring with the spatula or whisk, then hold at a slow boil for 1 hour, completing the dépouillement with the greatest attention.
11. Pass through the étamine and work it with the spatula until cold.